Morocco and Ecuador strengthen their collaboration
Morocco and Ecuador have strengthened ties with the latest telematic meeting between Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Foreign Minister, and the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld.
The two diplomats reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations in various areas of cooperation, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said in an official note.
The meeting served to establish a roadmap for cooperation in key areas such as trade, agriculture, education, security and economic development, the official communiqué explained.
At the meeting between the two diplomats, cooperation agreements were signed, including: the forthcoming delivery of 500,000 of the two million dollars pledged for various projects, the offer of 150 academic scholarships per year, the supply of 2,000 tonnes of fertiliser, which will arrive in Ecuador before the end of the year, cooperation on security issues and the abolition of visas for diplomatic and service passports, thus opening up new perspectives in the bilateral relationship between the North African country and Ecuador.
Morocco is an interesting gateway to the African market for Ecuador, which is beneficial for the Latin American nation.
In this regard, Nasser Bourita said he intends to visit Ecuador in the first quarter of 2025, in order to reaffirm the commitment of the Moroccan kingdom to act as a link for the access of Ecuadorian products in the West African market, highlighting the Ecuadorian banana, which will have a prominent role in the African continental market.
Nasser Bourita conveyed to the Ecuadorian government the invitation of King Mohammed VI to the President of the Republic of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, to visit Morocco in the near future, in what would be a very interesting state visit with a view to further deepening bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
With these political moves, the interest of both nations in strengthening mutual cooperation is clear and evident.
Ecuador has already taken an important step towards closer ties with Morocco by deciding last October to suspend official recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
Ecuador had recognised SADR in 1983 and even opened an embassy in 2009, giving diplomatic cover to an entity that is not officially recognised by a large majority of nations.
The suspension of Ecuador's support for SADR implicitly supported Morocco's territorial integrity because the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is pushing for a referendum on the independence of the Sahrawi population in order to determine the territorial status of Western Sahara, while the Moroccan kingdom considers this territory part of its southern provinces.
Another American country, Panama, also joined this trend and ceased to support SADR and its pro-independence postulates. This is something to be taken into account in the geopolitical panorama.
In the face of the pro-independence postulates, Morocco proposed an Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara that grants the territory and the Sahrawi authorities a broad capacity for self-government under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting the resolutions of the United Nations (UN).
The Moroccan proposal has received the explicit backing of more than 100 countries, including the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany and Spain, which consider the North African country's initiative to be the most serious, credible and realistic way of resolving the Sahrawi dispute, which has lasted almost five decades since the end of the Spanish colonial period.
Meanwhile, the postulates defended by SADR and its associated organisation, the Polisario Front, have less support, including that of Algeria, Morocco's great rival in the Maghreb.